The Cheese and only the Cheese

My user name says it all, clueless. I am interested in starting my own pizzeria. I know there is a million plus questions I need answers too. My first goal is to have a pizza I am proud to call my own. I have a homemade crust and sauce I am happy with. The cheese is a big issue. The cheese I have tried from retail stores just does not have the texture or flavor. I am thinking of whole milk mozzarella for a start and probably end up with a blend, if i can find the proper cheese to work with. The only way I have found to get the premium named cheese brands (Grande or Bacio) is to order a case of 8 bag's at 5 lbs each. Can anyone help me find quality cheese and where I can order smaller amounts to test? I am open to all any and all constructive feedback/criticism. Thank you all in advance for any and all help.

By definition, mozzarella cheese is pretty bland, neutral in flavor, in my opinion, some of the best cheese flavors are developed using a blend of different types of cheese, for example, one blend that we used to get a lot of very favorable comments on was 70% mozzarella, 25% Parmesan and 5% Romano. This is pretty simple but flavorful, there are a lot of other types of cheese which can be blended with mozzarella or provolone to provide an accentuated cheese or unique cheese flavor. I caution you though, always keep in the back of your mind that just because you like something doesn't mean your customers will also like it. I've worked with a lot of "newbies" over the years in helping them develop their pizza for their first store and the beginning of our conversation always seems to begin as follows: "I've spent years developing what I think is the best pizza I've ever tasted and now I want to open a pizzeria". My advice is to study the market where you intent to open your pizzeria and be sure to offer a similar product, then offer your pizza as the "house specialty", most people will automatically gravitate to the house specialty for their first order as they're always interested in something new or different (that's the appeal of a new pizzeria on the block) but in the event that they don't share your views on what constitutes a great pizza you can still offer them a pizza more in tune to what they are used to.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

By definition, mozzarella cheese is pretty bland, neutral in flavor, in my opinion, some of the best cheese flavors are developed using a blend of different types of cheese, for example, one blend that we used to get a lot of very favorable comments on was 70% mozzarella, 25% Parmesan and 5% Romano. This is pretty simple but flavorful, there are a lot of other types of cheese which can be blended with mozzarella or provolone to provide an accentuated cheese or unique cheese flavor. I caution you though, always keep in the back of your mind that just because you like something doesn't mean your customers will also like it. I've worked with a lot of "newbies" over the years in helping them develop their pizza for their first store and the beginning of our conversation always seems to begin as follows: "I've spent years developing what I think is the best pizza I've ever tasted and now I want to open a pizzeria". My advice is to study the market where you intent to open your pizzeria and be sure to offer a similar product, then offer your pizza as the "house specialty", most people will automatically gravitate to the house specialty for their first order as they're always interested in something new or different (that's the appeal of a new pizzeria on the block) but in the event that they don't share your views on what constitutes a great pizza you can still offer them a pizza more in tune to what they are used to.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

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Tom,

I appreciate your input very much. Your advice will be taken to heart.